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Matthew 18:1-14

As Jesus was completing His public ministry in Galilee, Matthew records a time of intensive teaching on
His part, with His disciples. The emphasis was on the imminent mission of Jesus to Jerusalem, where He
must suffer, and must die - but would then be raised up the third day.

The disciples did not understand what Jesus told them at that time. They found His words
incomprehensible, based on their preconceived notions of Messiah. Their responses indicate various
shades of their unbelief (16:22, 17:10, 23).

As we continue into chapter 18, we find Jesus continuing to teach His disciples - responding to some
questions that they posed to Him.

18:1 This is the first of the disciples’ questions. There is a second one, posed by Peter, that we find down
in verse 21, which is about forgiveness.

It may seem at first that these questions are unrelated. But in fact, the whole of chapter 18 deals with
various aspects of the disciples as those who, in committing themselves to Jesus, have become a community
that share life in common.

So this teaching is relevant for the disciples at this current time. But it will also be relevant later, when
believers become members of the Body of Christ, sharing a collective life, within local assemblies. The
teaching reveals how the life of the community is nurtured.

This was not a public teaching of Jesus. It occurred at the time when the disciples had returned to
Capernaum with Jesus; they were in a house, presumably the house that has been the base of Jesus’
ministry, in Capernaum.

This doesn’t mean that only Jesus and His disciples were present in the house; there were likely family
members, or others present. But the teaching was intended for the disciples of Jesus; in particular, the
twelve apostles.

The question as recorded by Matthew in verse 1 is a little vague. It might seem that the disciples were
simply asking in a general sort of way who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. But Mark’s account
brings some clarity. We’re going to take a look at it, in Mark chapter 9.

[Mark 9:33-35] The fact that the disciples were silent, in response to Jesus’ question, is very telling. They
didn’t want to admit to Jesus they were arguing with one another - or what they were arguing about. They
weren’t merely wondering who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven; they want to know which one of them
is greatest, in it.

Apparently, they were having this dispute while they were all traveling back to Capernaum, in Galilee. The
disciples had been thinking about the kingdom of heaven. Of course, Jesus would be king, in that kingdom
- He is the Messiah; He is the greatest.

But what would the rest of the kingdom look like? As the disciples considered earthly kingdoms, they
could see the need for a chain of command - for authority and power, wielded over the subjects of those
kingdoms.
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Jesus had already imparted to the Twelve His healing power. Surely they would receive high appointments,
in His kingdom! Imagine, the authority they would have!

But they would probably not all have the same authority; some would have more than others. Peter seemed
to have been singled out, by Jesus. And Jesus had taken just three of them, to be up on the mountain, with
Him.

It made them wonder, who among them would be greatest? Say, second only to the throne? And you can
picture each of them, pointing out his qualifications to the others - as he jockeyed for position, and prestige,
in the kingdom of heaven.

It’s no surprise if Jesus overheard them. But He waited until they were back in the house in Capernaum, to
give some private instruction on this subject - of what greatness looked like, in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus sat down - taking the position of the rabbis when they were about to teach. And He called His twelve
disciples to Himself, for His instruction. His first words here set the theme: the first shall be last; that is,
the greatest will be the least.

The kingdom of heaven is not like earthly kingdoms, in which the rulers lord it over the people, and
exercise authority over them (Mk 10:42). The greatest in the kingdom of heaven will be the one who is
under all the others; the humble servant of all.

And who, ultimately, would that be? That would be Jesus, Himself; the Son of Man; who did not come to
be served, but to serve (Mk 10:45). If any of them want to be great, they must do likewise.

[Return to Matthew 18]

Matthew shows that the disciples framed their dispute as a general question, posed to Jesus; but Luke
indicates that Jesus perceived the thought of their heart (Lk 9:47). To teach them about greatness, Jesus
used a living example - of a great one.

18:2-5 So what is Jesus’ living example? A little child. “Little” tells us that this was a young child; not an
older child, or an adolescent. Jesus will use this child as an object lesson, for His disciples. We will
encounter the little child, or “little ones” throughout the passage we’re looking at today; through verse 14.

Now, who would you say that Jesus intends this little child to represent? The disciples? Christians?
Believers? Here we must be very careful to observe how Jesus is using His example, throughout the
passage. We’ll look at that within the context of each section of the passage.

In verse 2, we had read that Jesus called a little child to Him. This child may have been in the house; or
Jesus may have called to him through the door.

What did the child do, when Jesus called to him? Matthew doesn’t say, but it’s clear that the little child
came to Jesus; for when he did, Jesus set him in the midst of His disciples.

Mark adds that Jesus took the little child in His arms (Mk 9:36); and Luke indicates that Jesus was sitting
with him (Lk 9:47). Can you just picture that? The child was probably in Jesus’ lap, as He taught His
disciples.
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Jesus then spoke a very solemn word, to His disciples: “Unless you are converted, and become as little
children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”.

The Greek verb “converted” means to turn into something; to change. Now, we know that Jesus was not
merely talking about having a change of thinking here - like the disciples changing their minds about who’s
the greatest. We know Jesus didn’t mean that because this change has to do with entering the kingdom of
heaven.

Jesus was talking about a change by which you become like a little child. This is the language of rebirth;
another way of saying, “You must be born again” (Jn 3:7) - entering the kingdom of God requires no less.

But weren’t the disciples that Jesus was teaching here - the Twelve - all born again? All but one of them
were. And for the other eleven disciples, Jesus wasn’t suggesting they weren’t born again; He was just
taking them back, to that moment, when they had experienced their new birth - and had become children of
God. Jesus was reminding them, of that.

At that time, each of the disciples had humbled himself, like that little child, in order to enter the kingdom
of heaven. But children are not naturally humble; they’re willful! In what sense had the child humbled
himself?

Think of what Jesus had done. He called the little child. And then what did the child do? He stopped
whatever he was doing - running, playing - and turned to Jesus, and came to Him.

The child set aside whatever he was doing in life - relinquishing his will, we could say - in order to respond
to the call of Jesus - to God’s will. It’s a beautiful picture, of the response of simple faith, to the call of God
in Christ Jesus. And in being willing to bow down his will to the will of God, the one like a child becomes
the greatest, in the kingdom of heaven - the greatest thing he can be. He becomes a son of God.

What was the point of Jesus, to His disciples? Why was He taking them back, to their conversion? To
remind them that everyone who comes to Jesus must come this way - the same way. They must humble
themselves; bowing down their will, to the will of God.

And everyone who does that becomes the greatest they can be; they become a son of God. And that puts
them all on exactly the same level; on the same level, under the Born Son of God; Jesus.

So much for the grandiose thinking of the disciples! No doubt they thought they had obtained “special son
status”, by this time. But Jesus was making it clear that they were no greater, no more important, no better
than anyone else who comes to Him by faith, at any time. All become God’s children, equally loved and
valued by Him.

And because of this, they should all be loved and valued, by one another - with each new son of God being
received - welcomed - as a disciple of Jesus would welcome Jesus, Himself. And that is appropriate,
because the value that each one possesses is because he has become a righteous, ever-living son - having
received new life, from Jesus.

But as Jesus continues teaching His disciples, the little child provides a new lesson; a different lesson.
Before we begin this next section, I want to point out several words to you, in the NKJV.

In verse 6, we have the word “sin”; this is the Greek verb “to stumble”. We find this same word in verses 8
and 9, translated “sin”. In this context, the meaning is “to stumble”.
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Then in verse 7, we see the words “offense” and “offenses”; this is the Greek noun form of the same word
translated “sin” - which has more the meaning here of “stumbling block”. I’m going to read the passage
with these modifications, which you’ll find on your word sheet.

18:6-9 So we have several questions here, to say the least. The idea in the word “stumble” and “stumbling
stone” is something that causes a person to fall. In this context, it is speaking a spiritual fall - a ruinous
falling away, from the true faith.

And immediately we say, wait a minute! The little child is a believer; he can’t lose his salvation. But that’s
an assumption - that the little child symbolizes a believer. We have to look at this as the disciples are
viewing it; as Jesus is presenting it, to them.

Jesus had called the little child. And what did the little child do? He came to Jesus. Well, what if a
stumbling block was in the child’s way, and he tripped over it, and had a ruinous fall? He wouldn’t have
gotten to Jesus then, would he? He wouldn’t be safe and secure, in Jesus’ arms.

This is the image we should have in our minds, with this passage - of little ones, who are being drawn to
Jesus. Some come right to Jesus, fully believing in Him. Some have only a measure of faith, in Jesus; but
it’s not a saving faith.

Perhaps they believe that Jesus is a mighty healer from God, like the father in the passage last week; or
perhaps they believe that Jesus is an enlightening teacher. They have begun to follow Jesus - as some other
disciples had done, beside the Twelve - but something causes them to stumble. And this stumbling is
ruinous; it causes them to never fully put their faith in Jesus, to be saved.

They were on their way - to fully believing in Jesus - and then something caused them to fall away; some
stumbling block, for them.

Now, there are cases in the NT where we see that believers can trip up other believers - such as stronger
brothers, with weaker brothers (Rom 14). But this is not the situation which Jesus is describing here.

This fall is ruinous; the person who was being drawn to Jesus, never comes to Him. And the condemnation
that Jesus describes - for the one who caused the stumbling - is equally ruinous.

The illustration Jesus uses in verse 6 describes one of the most awful forms of capital punishment, executed
by the Gentiles. The punishment for the one who puts a stumbling block in front of a little one, who was
trying to come to Jesus, would be worse than even that. The pronouncement of “woe” by Jesus indicates
that the judgment is disastrous; catastrophic.

And this is what tells us that, just as the one who stumbles is not a believer, the one who causes them to
stumble is also not a believer. For the believer, who is in Christ Jesus, there is now no condemnation (Rom
8:1); yet this is a condemnatory judgment.

The words of Jesus provide additional evidence of where the stumbling block comes from. Who - or rather,
what - does Jesus pronounce the woe on, in verse 7? On the world. The world system is the source of the
stumbling blocks; Satan’s world system.

Then Jesus says that stumbling blocks must come. Why? Because we’re born into that world system;
encountering stumbling blocks, that try to keep men from coming to Jesus, is the great purpose of the world
system.
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But the origin of these stumbling blocks is more specific than just the world system; that’s the source, but
then the stumbling block has to be laid in place; and that is done by a man - upon whom Jesus pronounces
an additional woe.

So the idea might be restated in this way: Men in the flesh, who act as agents for the world system,
introduce stumbling blocks before those who are being drawn to Jesus, to hinder them from reaching Him.

We have an excellent example of this, in the NT Scriptures. Turn to Galatians chapter 5. The assemblies in
Galatia were bewitched by a deception introduced by some false teachers, who had convinced them that it
wasn’t enough to believe in Jesus; that they had to add good works to their faith, in order for God to justify
them.

We’ll begin in verse 4.

[Galatians 5:4-10]

v. 4 This fall from grace refers to those who were being drawn to Christ, who were on the way to fully
believing in Him, but had fallen out of the way of grace, that would have taken them right to their Savior.
They began to think they had to add works to God’s grace. This is exactly like the little ones that Jesus was
describing, who stumbled to a ruinous fall.

v. 5 So here is the contrast to what these Galatians were trying to do. Paul indicates that true believers
know they can’t work out their justification in the flesh; Christ died to justify them, and through the Spirit,
they came to believe that. Through faith, they have received Christ’s righteousness, which gives them a
sure hope of future glory with Him.

v. 6 Here was one of the stumbling blocks that the false teachers introduced: that the Gentiles must be
circumcised, in order to be justified before God. Another was that they had to keep the Law of Moses, in
order to be justified (Gal 5:1). Again Paul says, justification is by faith alone - which is worked out in the
believer’s life as righteousness, through love.

v. 7 You ran well. They were on their way. But then they were hindered; they stumbled.

v. 8-10 Paul indicates that what they were following was a deception, sourced in the enemy of God.
Notice the note of condemnatory judgment, that Paul pronounces on the false teachers. It permeates this
letter.

[Return to Matthew 18]

As we consider the words of Jesus here, we wonder who He might have had in His mind. Who placed
stumbling blocks in front of those who were being drawn to Jesus? Who tried to hinder them, from fully
believing in Him? The religious rulers; primarily, the Pharisees and the scribes.

The stumbling blocks they placed before the Jews were keeping the Law of Moses; adhering to the
traditions of the elders; religious works, as the means of entering the kingdom of heaven. It was a huge
stumbling block, and most in Israel would stumble over it.
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But as Jesus continues in verse 8, His warning now turns from those who would introduce the stumbling
block; to the ones who might stumble over it. Notice the change in pronouns; verses 6 and 7 are third
person singular; “he”; “him”; “his”. But verses 8 and 9 change to second person singular; “you”, “your”.
Jesus is now warning the little ones, who are being drawn to Him; not to let anything stand in their way.

The language is hyperbole, which was commonly used in teaching to bring out a point. Simply put, Jesus
was saying it was better to be without a valuable part of your body - hand, foot or eye - than to have all of
your body parts, and fail to get into the kingdom of heaven. For if you don’t, what would be your
destination? Everlasting fire (v. 8); hell fire (v. 9).

What was Jesus describing there? The Lake of Fire; Hell. Do believers go there? No; we have been saved
from that wrathful judgment, by Jesus (Rom 5:9). This helps us to see once again that the little ones here
are not believers but those who are being drawn to Jesus.

Now, we might wonder why Jesus would be saying this to His disciples, who are believers. First of all,
one of them is not a believer, right? And it is reasonable to assume that there were others in the room, some
of whom may not have been believers.

But most importantly, it was intended to drive home to the twelve disciples the importance that Jesus
placed on those who were being drawn to Him. They were highly valued by God. The severest of
judgment awaited anyone who blocked their way, to Jesus. And they should be urged to stop at nothing
until they are in the arms of Jesus - just like that one little child.

Every single one of them had the potential to be the greatest, in the kingdom of heaven - the greatest they
could be - a son of God. What a loss, if that potential was not realized! The disciples were being given a
vision of the great work that Jesus had in store for them - to serve these little ones, and help them on their
way.

And with that, the third and last warning that Jesus gave went to His disciples.

18:10-11 Again, Jesus speaks of the little ones. In the context of this section, we see these are “that which
was lost”. Does that sound like a believer, or an unbeliever to you? An unbeliever. But these little ones are
not necessarily lost forever; here we see they have the prospect of being found. The Son of Man has come,
for this purpose; to save them.

In the first section of this passage, verses 2-5, we see the choice of men - to respond to the voice of Jesus,
and come to Him, by faith. But in this section, through verse 14, we see the Divine initiative - God’s desire
to save men from perishing. Therefore the Son of Man has come, to search for the lost, and to rescue them.
Both man and God take part in salvation.

The warning of Jesus to His disciples concerns, not man’s part in his salvation, but God’s part. Why would
that be? Because when the disciples had come to Jesus by faith, and been born again as children of God,
they became part of the family of God - and they now shared the Father’s interests. And the Father’s
interest is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9).

So Jesus warns His disciples, “Take heed”; be very careful, not to despise even one of these little ones - no
matter how needy they might be; no matter how weak they might be; no matter how sinful, or flawed, or
simply unlike you they might be.
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Don’t measure them up, by your human standards, by your eye and your ear, and dismiss them as unworthy
- or inferior - or lesser, than your great self.

Measure them instead by the Father’s standard. All fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) - just as you
did - but all have the potential to become sons of God - and that makes them precious to the Father; of
supreme worth.

And to begin to give the disciples a sense of how important these lost ones are, to God, Jesus opened the
curtain between the material and the spiritual realms, for a moment, and He gave His disciples a glimpse
behind the scenes - in heaven.

Verse 10 is often taken to mean that children have personal guardian angels - because people read that the
little ones have angels - their angels, who are before God. But the children here are not literal, as we have
learned. Now, other people realize that, and they think instead that this verse shows that believers have
guardian angels; personal angels who advocate for them, before God.

But that isn’t what it means, either. First of all, believers have an Advocate with the Father - who is it?
Jesus Christ, the righteous (1 Jn 2:1). He is the only Advocate we need. And we are reminded again that
these little ones here are not believers, but only those with the potential to be saved; remember, Jesus
described them as lost.

This verse takes into view the war for the souls of men. It is being waged on earth, but also behind the
scenes, in the spiritual realm. It would seem that the little ones who are being drawn to Jesus are the
subject of intense spiritual warfare, in that realm.

The angels who fight for these souls, collectively, are right before the Father - they always see His face.
The idea is that these angels are on constant alert, ready to carry out the instructions of God, to win the
battle for these souls, and bring them into the kingdom of heaven.

For the Father to dedicate a certain legion of His angels to this particular work on behalf of the little ones
shows their value to Him.

As Jesus continued, He told a parable to encourage His disciples to ponder these little ones even more.

18:12-14 “What do you think?” Jesus was asking His disciples for their opinion, about a parable He tells.
There is a man - a shepherd. He has a hundred sheep; but one of them wanders off; three times, Jesus
indicates this one sheep goes astray.

Wouldn’t the shepherd leave his ninety-nine sheep, and go after his one stray sheep, to recover it? Jesus
certainly thinks the answer is obvious; of course he would. Now, this presupposes that the shepherd would
leave these other ninety-nine sheep in safety, doesn’t it? Presumably, in a sheepfold.

The disciples would be familiar with this motif, from the OT Scriptures. Several of the prophets spoke of
the LORD God as the shepherd of His people, Israel (Is 40:11, Jer 31:10, Eze 34:12). But in the parable,
Jesus is clearly referring to Himself as the shepherd - He is the Son of Man who has come to save that
which is lost; He is the one who is seeking that one lost sheep.

So in the parable, the ninety-nine sheep represent those who have already come to Jesus, believing into
Him. They are saved; they are safe, in the sheepfold. Ninety-nine valuable sons of God, who have been
brought into the kingdom! The believing disciples would be included, here.
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But the shepherd knows that there is one sheep missing - it’s not in the sheepfold. So the ninety-nine are
left behind, in order to find it. Left behind in safety, but - left behind.

Not that that one lost sheep was easy to find; the shepherd had to trudge throughout the mountains, before
he found it. But when the shepherd found it, what did he do? He rejoiced. In fact, he rejoiced more over
that one sheep - than over the ninety-nine that had not gone astray - that had responded to the shepherd’s
call, and came to him immediately; directly.

That’s not simply math; that defies logical explanation. We would say that ninety-nine are clearly more
valuable than one. And that one was hard to find, on top of it! Wouldn’t it have made more sense, to just
give it up - to just go back to the ninety-nine, and chalk up that one single sheep as a loss? It’s only 1% of
the flock. Think of the all the time and effort that the shepherd had to invest!

But that only served to show the value of that one sheep, to the shepherd. To the shepherd, that one sheep
was infinitely precious - so the way the shepherd did the math, it was completely worth it - to save that one
precious sheep. And the effort and the labor that it took on the part of the shepherd just added to the value
of that sheep - from the shepherd’s perspective.

This is the heart of Jesus for souls - for each individual precious soul. It is the heart of His Father - that
none should perish; that all should repent. And when there is one who has strayed far, one who the Lord is
pursuing, and He is finally able to bring that one into His kingdom - He rejoices all the more, for His labor
for that soul has been successful.

The desire of Jesus was that this would be the heart of His disciples, as well. It’s great that they’re sons of
God. It’s great that they’re in the kingdom, safe and secure.

But if they want to be truly great in God’s kingdom, they must acquire the heart of the Father, of Jesus, for
those who are not yet in it - to comprehend the preciousness of those souls. This will give them a heart to
serve God to the uttermost - to lay their lives low, in order for those souls would be saved. And this is the
same heart that should beat in the genuine disciples of Jesus today.

Reading: Matthew 18:15-35; Mt 6:8-15; Eph 4:25-32; Col 3:12-17